acquaintance
Americannoun
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acquaintances
plural
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a person known to one, but usually not a close friend.
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the state of being acquainted or casually familiar with someone or something.
As far as I know, no one of my acquaintance has traveled around the world.
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personal knowledge as a result of study, experience, etc..
a good acquaintance with French wines.
- Synonyms:
- awareness, familiarity
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(used with a plural verb) the persons with whom one is acquainted.
noun
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a person with whom one has been in contact but who is not a close friend
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knowledge of a person or thing, esp when slight
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to come into social contact with
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those persons collectively whom one knows
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philosophy the relation between a knower and the object of his knowledge, as contrasted with knowledge by description (esp in the phrase knowledge by acquaintance )
Synonym Usage
Acquaintance, associate, companion, friend refer to a person with whom one is in contact. An acquaintance is someone recognized by sight or someone known, though not intimately: a casual acquaintance. An associate is a person who is often in one's company, usually because of some work, enterprise, or pursuit in common: a business associate. A companion is a person who shares one's activities, fate, or condition: a traveling companion; companion in despair. A friend is a person with whom one is on intimate terms and for whom one feels a warm affection: a trusted friend.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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acquaintanceshipnoun
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nonacquaintancenoun
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nonacquaintanceshipnoun
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preacquaintancenoun
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pseudoacquaintancenoun
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reacquaintancenoun
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of acquaintance
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English acoyntaunce, aqueinta(u)nce, from Old French acointance; equivalent to acquaint + -ance
Explanation
An acquaintance is someone you know a little about, but they’re not your best friend or anything. Acquaintance is also having knowledge about something specific, like horror films or the farming techniques of Chinese peasants. The root of acquaintance is the Old French word acointier, a verb meaning “make known.” Being the acquaintance of a person or topic means that you know something about it. An acquaintance is less intimate than a friend, like a person in your class whose name you know, but that’s it. When you “make the acquaintance of” someone, you meet them for the first time. If you know nothing about eggplants, you’d say, “I have little acquaintance with eggplants.”
Vocabulary lists containing acquaintance
Words from the 4th of July Songbook
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 1
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Metamorphosis
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A few weeks ago, I met an acquaintance for coffee at a Cuban café attached to a downtown hostel, where people with backpacks of varying dimensions passed steadily through the lobby.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
According to TMZ, Thornton claimed an acquaintance from a suicide prevention group sent him a link to an unrelated, non-crisis chat room — the one seen in the photos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
When she told an acquaintance about it, they said, “These are not your friends. You need a lawyer, right away.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Ballard, who originally self-published the novel before Hachette acquired the rights, has denied these claims, saying AI was used by an acquaintance who had edited the book.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
“I should take him, even on my slight acquaintance, to be an ill-tempered man.”
From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
Maintaining an openness to people — and a willingness to strengthen connections with everyone from distant or estranged family members to friends, acquaintances and strangers — enables you to benefit from more social interaction.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
Maxwell had access to a digital legal database, but he sometimes relied on acquaintances outside prison to look up cases or articles and send him physical printouts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
When I was pregnant with my daughter in 2016, I started getting at least one inquiry a week from friends and acquaintances who were also expecting.
From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2026
Yu, who said he’s spoken with his and Wang’s mutual acquaintances to offer help for Gu Grocery, noted that he hasn’t been approached by the mom-and-pop team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
“I’ve made more friends and acquaintances through football than anything.”
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
